


Things That Scratch In The Night

by smallprotector



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Combeferre denies nothing not even ghosts, Cute, Fluff, Gen, Les Amis all live together, Wholesome, and are best friends and very happy, debates about ghost ethics, spoopy!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 01:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16440383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallprotector/pseuds/smallprotector
Summary: When there are mysterious noises coming from the garage, Combeferre and Jehan suspect ghosts. But could this haunting have another explanation?





	Things That Scratch In The Night

They’d moved into the co-op a few months ago, and it had been a journey. From chore wheels to community meals, it had been a learning experience for all of them. But the evenings where they cuddled on the couch or made tea for each other first thing in the morning or held each other close while someone cried about heartbreak or bad grades, those moments made it all worth it. There was just nothing like living in a community with all your closest friends. 

But when the mysterious noises started in October, that’s when things got a lot more interesting… 

 

At first only Feuilly heard them when he came back from his food delivery job exhausted. He thought they might just be some weird stuff going on with the pipes at first, but then he heard a scratching noise.

“It is way too late for this,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head. He’d talk to the others in the morning. Right now all he wanted to do was sleep. 

In the morning, he barely had time to bring it up to Combeferre, who was sitting in the living room listening to a documentary about alternative medical treatments.

“Hey Comb Friend, have you heard any weird noises in the garage lately? I heard something the last night and I could not figure it out” 

“I don’t remember… I might have.” 

“Ah. What are you trying out this time?” 

“Sleep deprivation! I’ve almost gone forty hours now! It’s an experience.” 

“Yeah, sounds like it. Make sure you get to a soft surface so you don’t crash if you pass out, okay?”

Combeferre blinked, his eyelids seemingly trying to drag him into the comforting embrace of sleep. “Someone else said that too.” 

“Oh boy. Well I do not have time for this but try to get some sleep okay?” Feuilly said, sending Courfeyrac a quick text in case he didn’t know what Combeferre was up to. The rest he could deal with tomorrow. 

 

Later that day, most of Les Amis gathered to eat the vegan peanut butter cookies Courfeyrac had made. Before long, he discussion turned to the mysterious noise they too had heard in the past few hours. 

“Feuilly thinks it might be something with the pipes, and that does seem the most likely,” Enjolras said. “So we should just wait till next week and call a plumber.”

Most of Les Amis nodded, not really caring too much about the noises if it meant they could go back about their day. 

But Jehan uncurled from where they had been sat on the couch, looking thoughtful. 

“What if it were ghosts?” They asked, quietly. 

Combeferre frowned thoughtfully. “Go on Jehan, we’re listening.” 

“It’s getting close to Samhain, that’s when spirits from the other world come and speak to humans,” Jahan said, voice still timid. “So, it would make sense if they were trying to communicate with us now.” 

Enjolras seemed uncomfortable. “Is this- ah Combeferre isn’t this a bit- unscientific?” He said, not wanting to upset his friend too much.

“Well, yes, modern science doesn’t acknowledge the possibility of ghost but Enjolras- that doesn’t mean we should dismiss the idea. Scientist bring their own biases and preconceptions with them, and despite calling themselves objective, there’s still a lot of interpretation of data that can manipulate results.”

Jehan nodded. “We shouldn’t dogmatically adhere to what we think science is, Enjolras. You never know what experiences may lie outside it.” 

Enjolras looked thoughtful. “Well, you’re not wrong about that I suppose. We’ll still call a plumber on Monday though.”

 

That evening, after a much-needed nap, Combeferre spend his time researching the paranormal, not allowing his prejudices and preformed opinions hinder his quest for knowledge. He couldn’t wait to find out more about this phenomenon he’d never thought he’d got to see. As he read more and more, he found himself excited at the prospect of discovering more about these ghosts. He couldn’t wait to talk to Jehan about all of this! 

 

“Jehan, soooo I’ve been doing some reading, and I think I’ve narrowed it down to two possible people who’ve died on campus. We could go check out where they’re buried, I’ve been reading up on ghosts and this would be such a fascinating way to prove the theories that-“ 

But before he could finish, Jehan interrupted him, voice still quiet but full of righteous anger. 

“You can’t just study ghosts! They were people once Combeferre! They deserve our respect now too!” Jehan said, anger clear in his voice. “You think everything can be reduced down to science, but this is wrong! If these are trapped souls, they deserve out help and our compassion, not for you to go- go poking around their graves!” 

Combeferre gaped at Jehan for a second and took a while to think before looking down, shamefaced. “You’re right. If theses really are trapped sprits we have to help them. I’m sorry for seeing it as a research opportunity.” 

Jehan took a deep breath and seemed to shrink back into their usual hunched-over self. “Thank you Combeferre. I know you mean well.” 

 

Bossuet had less luck with the noises. Any time he tried to go to the garage to hear what the others were talking about, there was only silence. After a few hours, he couldn’t help himself from talking about it during a study date with Joly. 

“What if… Joly, what if they ghosts don’t like me?” 

“Bossuet. Dear. Darling. If the ghosts don’t like you, they are stupid, and we will fight them. Somehow. Right Musichetta?” 

Musichetta nodded from where she was cuddled up in the blanket. 

“You two are wonderful, you know that?” 

“We do. Now come warm my bed, my toes are feeling cold:” 

Joly smirked, holding Bossuet’s hands and climbing into bed with their girlfriend. “Gladly, my dear.”

 

The next morning, the scratching noise startled Bossuet just as he was about to get a jar to make some pickles from a high shelf. Luckily, it was a relatively mild fall by his standards and he ended up only bruising one side of his torso and scraping open one palm. The jar hadn’t even shattered, which he thanked his (rather cruel) lucky stars for.

As he disinfected and bandaged his hands, Joly tried to cheer him up. 

“Look, the ghosts like you too!” 

And, as silly as it was, the thought made Bossuet grin. 

 

It was Grantaire who finally solved the mystery. He’d been gone for a few weeks on a student exchange but had been rather vague about the details. Now back, he looked healthier and happier than ever, his skin no longer quite so ashen. Once he’d been filled in about the mystery of Garage Ghost Gang (as Courfeyrac had lovingly named the situation, he’d gone to examine it for himself, Courfeyrac and Combeferre trailing behind him. 

“Hear that?” Courfeyrac whispered right into Grantaire’s ear (He hadn’t let Grantaire go from his welcome back hug yet, so he was already pressed up close to him). 

“Yeah…. It sounds familiar.”

“You’ve had experience with ghosts before?” Combeferre asked, sounding fascinated. 

“Not quite. Be quiet for a second you too?”

And as Combeferre and Courfeyrac went silent, he followed the noises and crouched down before lifting up the lid of a box that they kept old blankets in. 

“Oh hello,” he cooed.

Courfeyrac and Combeferre exchanged baffled glances. Was Grantaire cooing at a ghost? 

“Well, good news is this place isn’t haunted. Better news is we might have a few new housemates.”

 

“Okay so I texted Feuilly and asked him to get some cat food, kitten milk and kitty litter from the store, he should be getting here in a bit. In the meantime, can you look up if or when we need to vaccinate these kittens ‘Ferre?” 

“On it. We should probably get them spayed and neutered too, it’s a lot better for cats. I think the local shelter had trap neuter release programs that might help us with the costs?” 

“But… we’re gonna keep with, right?” Grantaire asked, looking up from the kitten he was cradling in his arms. “We can take care of them, we have a house! They look like they’ve been left alone for a few days, I think their mother must have abandoned them.”

“Maybe, but we should keep them here until we know for sure she’s not coming back. Maybe she just had to go- hunt? Whatever it is that cats do,” Combeferre said, already itching to research more about cats so that he wouldn’t keep sounding so uninformed. But for now, he sat down to hold one of them and let them snuggle into his fuzzy hoodie. Maybe he could train one of them to sit on his should and blink disapprovingly one day… 

Feuilly’s voice drifted into the room they were sitting in. “Alright, so I got some dry and wet food. Is this to donate to the shelter? Cause I know they accept food donations but they’re also always happy about cash- ooohhhh so that’s what the noises were,” Feuilly said, crouching down to look at the kittens being held by his friends. “Well, it’s always good to see Les Amis getting new recruits.” 

Grantaire snorted. “Make sure to frame it like that Feuilly, and Enjolras is sure to let us keep them.” 

“Keep who?” Enjolras asked as he walked into the room. 

“We solved the Garage Ghost Gang mystery!” Courfeyrac said, holding up a little black kitten to Enjolras. “They were kittens!” 

Enjolras’ face lit up. “Cats! Oh, this is the best thing to happen this whole- this whole year! Kittens! They still look rather young, so we should probably schedule feeding times if their mother doesn’t come back soon, so we could ass that to the chore wheel. And the vet! We have to take them to the vet! Oh, can I hold one?” 

Grantaire held out a kitten to Enjolras, completely stunned by his reaction. “Here you go,” he said, his heart doing strange things as he watched him cooing over them. 

“We’re going to take such good care of you, yes we are!” 

And they did.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are very appriciated! I'm on tumblr as wanttodrawmothsfrommemory, come say hi :D Feel free to suggest anything you'd like to see :D
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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